Unlucky In Love - A Valentine's Concert For Friday The 13th

💔 UNLUCKY IN LOVE

A Valentine’s Concert for Friday the 13th

Valentine’s Day isn’t for everyone.
Sometimes love flakes. Sometimes it ghosts. Sometimes it shows up late, awkward, and carrying emotional baggage.

That’s where Unlucky in Love comes in.

Join John Swallow & Cameron Swallow, John Wertheimer, and friends for a night of live music devoted to love gone gloriously wrong—new crushes that crash and burn, broken hearts, comic first dates, and the ache of unrequited longing.

John and Cameron Swallow are a married couple known in Wisconsin for their deep commitment to education, community engagement, and bringing people together across difference. John serves as President of Carthage College, while Cameron is a leader with Braver Angels, an organization dedicated to reducing political polarization and strengthening civic trust.

For the Swallows, music is more than performance—it’s practice. Drawing from traditions like barbershop and bluegrass, they sing with the belief that harmony requires listening, flexibility, and the willingness to meet others where they are. Their songs and stories reflect the same values that guide their civic work: curiosity, humility, and connection—even (especially) when things don’t line up neatly.

John Wertheimer brings that same spirit from a different angle. A prolific songwriter whose work spans rock, folk, Americana, and beyond, Wertheimer is known for hopping genres with ease—writing and performing with rock bands, Latin ensembles, and acoustic groups alike. While he’s a respected Professor of History at Davidson College, his musical life has always been wide-ranging, collaborative, and rooted in curiosity.

That genre-hopping instinct is central to his songwriting. Wertheimer moves between musical worlds the way a good conversation moves between perspectives—listening closely, borrowing generously, and finding common ground without sanding down differences. Whether anchoring a groove or stepping into a lyric, his songs balance wit and vulnerability, heartache and humor, intimacy and reflection.

Together, these artists create an evening that’s reflective, funny, tender, and real—where heartbreak isn’t wallowed in, but shared, laughed at, and maybe even understood a little better.

Expect:

• Songs that sting (just enough)
• Choruses you will sing along to
• Moments that make you laugh, sigh, and think, yeah… I’ve been there

💛 Pay What You Can — All Proceeds to the Community
This is a pay-what-you-can event, and ALL ticket sale proceeds benefit the Kenosha Coalition for Dismantling Racism, supporting their community mural project and ongoing work to build a more just, connected Kenosha.

It also marks a special moment: a celebration of The White Lilac’s reopening after a community-powered rebuilding campaign.

So whether you’re single, coupled, complicated, or opting out of Valentine’s clichés altogether—
Come be unlucky in love with us.

Friday the 13th never sounded so good. 🖤🎶

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Host or Publisher KmacK Productions